Festive Spirit
by arliddian
Summary: John was never big on the whole Christmas thing. Maybe Kitty could change his mind. Kyro oneshot.


**Festive Spirit**

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><p><strong>Summary:<strong> _John was never big on the whole Christmas thing. Maybe Kitty could change his mind_. Kyro oneshot.  
><strong>Timeline:<strong> Before X2  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> All things recognisably X-Men aren't mine - I just like making up my own stories.  
><strong>Author's Note:<strong>This was a Christmas present for Enelya Telemnar a few years ago. Her prompts: John calls Kitty 'baby', a Christmas party, a romantic evening and Christmas lights.

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><p>Kitty sighed in frustration and dropped the string of fairy lights she held. Placing her hands on her hips, she glared up at the Christmas tree that towered above her.<p>

The Christmas party was that night, and all the students were busy in preparation. Kitty had been given the task of decorating the tree that stood in the living room – but unfortunately, she was a little too short to get the fairy lights on the top, even when she stood on a chair.

Hanging up the ornaments and decorations and star had been no problem – she had simply used her power to walk on air up to the top boughs. The lights were an issue because, if she phased, she would effectively break them. Electricity and phasing did not go well together.

She walked to the door and glanced up and down the halls, hoping to find Piotr or another tall person to help her, but nobody appeared. Sighing again, she turned back to decide which furniture would be safe to stack on top of each other.

Just as she was trying to figure out how she was going to move the coffee table close enough to the tree, John strolled in, lighter in hand.

Kitty immediately pounced. "John, you're not doing anything right now, are you?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?" he asked warily.

She bent and picked up the fairy lights. "I'm having a little trouble with getting these up on the tree."

A full second of silence passed, and then he laughed, amusement bubbling from his lips.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "It's not _that_ funny."

John just shrugged.

"Look, will you just help me?"

"What do _I_ get, Kitty-cat?" he asked, his lips curving slowly into a rather suggestive smirk.

"Why can't you just _help_ because it's a nice thing to do?" she shot back, feeling herself flush. "Where's your Christmas spirit, _Johnny boy_?"

John scowled at the last two words. "I was never all that big on the Christmas thing."

"Come on, John," she pleaded. "Everyone else is lugging tables or something, and it's not like you're too busy to help. It'll only take a minute!"

There was a long pause, and she began to think she was wasting her time – and then he rolled his eyes, sighed, stuffed his lighter in his pocket and walked around to the tree, getting up on the chair Kitty had dragged to its side.

They worked together quietly, Kitty occasionally giving John instructions as to how she wanted the lights to be placed. She helped by untangling the lights as he worked, but if he appreciated her assistance, he didn't show it.

He finished winding the string of lights around the top half of the tree, and stepped off the chair to help Kitty with the wider lower half.

She ducked and phased herself through the tree, being careful to avoid the lights already hung up. He passed her the end of the string, and she plugged the lights in.

When she edged around the tree, she suddenly found herself very, _very_ close to John.

"Um," she stammered, feeling rather unnerved by their proximity and the smirk on John's face as he looked down at her. "Can you let me out, please?"

He leaned a little closer. "I've just thought of what you can give me," he told her in a low voice that sent a shiver up her spine.

"What – What's that?" she asked, her tongue darting out slightly and sweeping her lips. Something in his eyes made her inexplicably nervous; a jittery feeling settled in her stomach. She vaguely realised that she could just phase through him or at least side-step around him through the wall – but something held her back.

His eyes were now focused on her lips. "This," he said, and he moved even closer to her…

"Kitty!" Jubilee called from somewhere close to the room. Footsteps were approaching rapidly.

Immediately, John straightened and stepped back, a hint of frustration in his face. He muttered a "Later," and made a quick exit, retrieving his lighter from his pocket and snapping it open and closed.

Kitty remained standing between the tree and the wall, blinking and trying to calm her breathing, wondering what would have happened if Jubilee hadn't called her name.

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><p>The party was in full swing. Professor Xavier, Dr Grey and Ms Munroe were sporting Santa hats. Mr Summers had a Christmas-patterned tie hanging loosely around his neck. Everyone was talking and laughing and eating and drinking.<p>

John had hung around for half an hour. He kept looking over at Kitty, paying little attention to the conversation he was participating in with Bobby and Rogue.

Just once, Kitty became aware of his heated gaze. She glanced over at him, found him looking at her, promptly blushed, and turned away to hastily engage in conversation with Piotr. She didn't notice John's expression turn a shade darker, and she didn't see him leave the party without excusing himself to his two friends.

A couple of hours later, Kitty was almost ready to drop to the floor and sleep. She found Jubilee and bid her good night

As she walked past the door to the living room, she caught a glimpse of a soft, flickering orange light. Curious, she entered the room.

John was sitting on the floor in front of the fire in the fireplace, watching the flames. Kitty couldn't see any logs, and realised that John was using his power to generate the warmth.

"Did you skip out on the party?" she asked, walking over and sitting down beside him.

He glanced at her. "I told you, I don't get into the Christmas thing."

"Why?" Her voice was incredulous. "How can you not get into the festive spirit with everything that goes on? Look how happy everyone is! No classes, a party tonight, presents tomorrow, people showing that they care about each other…and the decorations! Don't you think they look beautiful?"

He wanted to laugh at her enthusiasm and the earnest expression on her face, but stopped himself, knowing that it would probably hurt her feelings in some way. Instead, he looked around the room at the ornamented tree, the tinsel hung over the doorways, and the various other decorations that had been put up that day.

"It looks alright, I guess," he admitted. Kitty smiled.

"I'm glad you think so," she said, stretching her legs out in front of her. The fire he was controlling sent an almost romantic glow washing over the room.

Then something green that caught his eye, hanging over the mantelpiece. He grinned.

"Mistletoe."

"What?"

John pointed it out to her. "Mistletoe," he repeated. He turned to look at her, smirking, and her eyes widened. She suddenly realised that they were alone in a quiet room with a romantic atmosphere, and her heart began to beat faster.

"I think the mistletoe is a pretty good addition," he said, leaning in ever so slightly. "Really…festive."

Her mouth suddenly felt dry, and that nervous fluttering she had experienced earlier in the day returned in full force.

"As I recall," he continued, still moving closer. "You never thanked me for helping you today."

"I, um, I thought you weren't really into the festive spirit," she almost whispered, frozen in place as his face slowly, almost imperceptibly, neared hers. All she could see was him, and his proximity was making it difficult for her to think straight.

"Maybe you can change my mind," he said, a corner of his mouth quirking upwards.

Her eyes closed of their own accord, and a second later she felt his lips on hers. His kiss was gentle and bewildering and soft and sensual, and after an initial moment of shock (_John Allerdyce is kissing me!_), she found herself kissing him back. A hand reached up to stroke her cheek, and then it buried itself in her hair, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

The sound of a throat clearing caused them to part, albeit rather unwillingly. They both turned to see Bobby standing there with his arms folded and amusement written on his face.

"So you ditched the party to make out with each other?" he asked them, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah, Bobby, that's right," John said sarcastically. He smirked and draped an arm around Kitty's shoulders. Turning to her, he said, "Come on, baby, let's take this upstairs."

Kitty rolled her eyes, not quite suppressing her grin as she shoved him off her.

"Right." Bobby shook his head with a smile. "Well, have fun. I'm going to bed. Don't do anything you wouldn't want the whole school talking about by tomorrow morning."

Once he left, Kitty shyly looked over at John.

"Now," she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Where were we?"

_Fin_


End file.
